Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

I love making cupcakes for get togethers.  I think that it's a lot easier to make individual desserts so that you don't have to worry about cutting cake or pie into individual servings when you have company over.  Cupcakes can be a little difficult to transport unless you have a cupcake holder, but I served these at a family party that we were hosting at our condo so I didn't have to worry about that this time.  I did invest $25 in this cupcake carrier, and it has worked well for me in the past when I was bringing cupcakes to a party (which I love to do because you can do so many fun things with cupcakes!).

I searched for the perfect cupcake recipe to serve at our party, and I came across this recipe from Annie's Eats that she had adapted from Beantown Baker.  Anything oreo is usually a hit, (which is why I love to bring oreo truffles to parties) and these cupcakes looked perfect so I decided to make them the morning of our party.  These were really tasty and a perfect dessert to serve to celebrate a few birthdays!  Just as a warning for when you're buying the ingredients - I used a whole package of oreos plus a row of oreos from a second package....so I'm glad I ended up buying two packages of oreos.  This recipe will make 24 delicious cupcakes.

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes-
24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 cup sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (I cut each oreo into quarters)

For the frosting-
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish-
Oreo cookie crumbs
24 Oreo cookie halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the wells of two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar and beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until evenly incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated and smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

If you are an oreo fan, you will love these!  I loved the oreo cookie at the bottom of the cupcake, and this frosting really went perfectly with the cupcake.  I highly recommend these :)